National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Candy Crowley that the quarantines for health care workers returning from west Africa, newly announced by several states following one confirmed case of ebola in New York City and one suspected in New Jersey, were counterproductive by discouraging people from going to fight the ebola outbreak in west Africa, where it ultimately needs to be stopped.

“We have to be careful when we make policy we don’t have unintended consequences, where you group everyone in the same category, that just because you came back from there, that therefore you’re in this category,” Fauci said. “We do have stratification of risk and stratification of monitoring. That’s critical, based on scientific data.”

Host Candy Crowley asked where the harm was in quarantining returning health workers; Fauci replied that it would disincentivize more workers from going to west Africa, ultimately intensifying the outbreak.

“We want them to go,” Fauci said. “They help protect America by being over there. The scientific evidence tells you you’re not going to transmit it. We don’t want to be cavalier.”